Matting

Question
I have made a terrible mistake.  I have a standard and I saw a cut a few months ago that I wanted for my little boy, but his hair was too short.  I had taken very good care of him and all aspects of his grooming.  Long story short, I did not realize while I was letting his hair grow out his adult hair was growing in and it is a matted mess.  I have good clippers and I would like to know how I should go about shaving him down.  I just want to start over instead of going through the pain of dematting.  Please help!!!

Answer
Hello There,
Don't fret, this is actually very common in the Poodle breed.  It happens to alot of us, even the old hats who know better.  
The only possible way to avoid mats is to keep your dog brushed out.  This means faithfully brushing your dog down to the skin every other day at least.  To do this, you just lay your hand on his hair and brush the  hair that you are holding back all the way down to the skin.  Then go over your work with a comb.  It is very tedious work, but worth it to keep those mats at bay.
Adult Poodle hair tends to be very curly and when it starts to come in, it curls right in with that nice soft puppy hair and the result is terrible mats.  
Then thing to do when that happens is to use a #7F (or full tooth) or if your lucky you can try a #5F blade on your trimmers and shave your dog down from head to toe.  The Andis, and Oster trimmers are my trimmers of choice, but Laube, Wahl, and ConairPet trimmers are good too.
Some people try to just shave the matted areas, and thats fine, but you would be better off shaving the whole dog down so that it can start growing back in the same length.  

I like to start just behind the head, or under the neck and just go from there.  If your #5F won't go through, then move on to the #7F blade.  If the mats are so bad that the #7F blade won't go through, then you will need to either use a #10 blade or use the #7F blade against the hair (going from the rear up towards the head, I like to start at the bottom of the back legs)

Another thing that helps keep your dog free of mats is to use a good quality conditioner on his hair when you bathe him.  Sally's Beauty Supply stores carries a conditioner called Cure Care that really helps condition a dogs hair and keep it from matting.  I buy it by the gallon, but I am sure you can get a smaller amount for your guy.  I put it on wet, then just barely rinse it out.  That way, it stays on the coat and helps keep it from matting.  You can also dilute it in water and spray it on as you are combing your dog out.  I also like Sally's Silk Elements spray Glosser.  It smells great and gives your dog a really nice shine.  

Well, I hope this helps you with your mat problem.  Again, everyone goes through it that has a Poodle, so you aren't alone. (I actually shaved a Poodle mix down today that was matted to the skin)

If you have other questions please feel free to ask.
Thanks for using AllExperts.com,
Kim